By: Ashmar Mandou

LatiNxt, will once again take over Navy Pier’s musical stage for the second year in a row with epic performances from musically diverse artists spanning the globe. LatiNxt Presented by Xfinity will offer vibrant performances including Novalima, Balun, Bianca Oblivion, Dos Santos, Braided Janes, Mán Cub, Pachanga DJ’s, Cqqchifruit, Soulphonetics, with live PA’s by Carolina Arroba and Bumbac Joe and His Makinas. The festival will be hosted by emcees, Logan Lu and Pinqy Ring. The performances will take place across various Navy Pier platforms, including the Miller Lite Beer Garden, People’s Energy Welcome Pavilion, Polk Bros Park Performance Lawns and Wave Wall Performance Platform. Lawndale Bilingual Newspaper recently interviewed Mán Cub, Bumbac Joe, and Dos Santos to talk musical influence and breaking into the music industry. LatiNxt will take place Friday, June 14th and Saturday, June 15th. For more information, visit www.navypier.org.

Mán Cub

Lawndale Bilingual News: We are a few days away from Navy Pier’s second annual LatiNxt.  What are you looking forward to the most about this year’s festival?
I am most excited to meet other acts that are performing this year and meeting the speakers and visual artists. I don’t often get to meet other artists with experiences related to mine. I also want to ask for advice on how to take the next steps forward to a successful career in music.  

LatiNxt is a confluence of diverse musical genres coming together for one weekend.  Tell me who have been your musical inspirations that have impacted you as an artist. 
My musical influences growing up include The Gorillaz, MGMT, and Daft Punk. Recently, I’ve been really moved by Helado Negro ever since I saw him perform at Lincoln Hall here in Chicago. I’m also inspired by the hard work of my fellow contemporaries here in Chicago.  Jessica Garcia, French Police, Jordanna, and A Flor De Piel to name a few.

How do you hope your music inspires others, especially those attending LatiNxt?
I hope those attending LatiNxt are inspired by the performance. I like producing, but my first love is performing. I hope that the audience will feel the emotions I will conjure and that they feel peace by the end of the show.

What advice would you give to Latinx youth that have a desire to break into the music industry?
Start working now. If you have the desire, start now. Write, learn, perform, and reach out. Plant the seeds. You may not sow them now, but soon, all will come to you.

Bumbac Joe

Lawndale Bilingual News: We are a few days away from Navy Pier’s second annual LatiNxt.  What are you looking forward to the most about this year’s festival? 
Looking for to see the consolidation of Chicago as a hub for alternative Latinx music and culture in the Midwest.

LatiNxt is a confluence of diverse musical genres coming together for one weekend.  Tell me who have been your musical inspirations that have impacted you as an artist.
The artists that inspire me a lot are Novalima, Ife, Rita Indiana, Mima, Dos Santos, Pedrito Martinez, La Mecanica Popular for example.

How do you hope your music inspires others, especially those attending LatiNxt?
Hoping the people feel the connection thru my music with my futuristic vision of Latin-America. 

What advice would you give to Latinx youth that have a desire to break into the music industry?
Hard work, a lot of research about the diasporic travel of our music, a sincere connection with your roots and the music.

Dos Santos

Lawndale Bilingual News: We are a few days away from Navy Pier’s second annual LatiNxt.  What are you looking forward to the most about this year’s festival?
There are a number of amazing artists that will be performing this year. Our favorite part of any festival experience is watching performances and connecting with other great artists.

LatiNxt is a confluence of diverse musical genres coming together for one weekend.  Tell me who have been your musical inspirations that have impacted you as an artist.
As a band, we all come from different backgrounds and musical upbringings, and so that means that together we all have a pretty broad range of sources of inspiration, from Puerto Rican plena to punk, jazz to Mexican son, afrobeat to soul. It’s all there in our music. These genres and artists in those genres—which are pretty broad, yea—represent sounds that we always aspire toward.

How do you hope your music inspires others, especially those attending LatiNxt?
It’s always empowering when spaces exist for Latinx artists, specifically. There certainly aren’t enough festivals dedicated to showcasing our music and audiences know that—they know that it’s both special and important to support these types of spaces and events, as much as we do. In that sense, this gathering as a whole can be inspiring to music-goers, to those attending LatiNxt—it says that our music is worthy of being showcased, of attention, of being featured at a festival.

What advice would you give to Latinx youth that have a desire to break into the music industry?
Work hard at developing your talent and crafting your art. We are witnessing a moment right now where people are paying more attention to us as artists—if you believe in your art, someone is sure to notice.

Photo Credit: LatiNxt Presented by Xfinity. Mario Ruben